2012 Nordic Fighter of the Year – Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson

Alexander Gustafsson MMA Viking’s Nordic fighter of the year. Alexander has accomplished some amazing feats in 2012 going undefeated with two solid victories in the Octagon.

Starting off with his win over feared Brazilian Thiago Silva (14-3-0 2NC) in April in the main event of the UFCs first ever event held in Sweden. Gustafsson out boxed the striker from Sao Paulo in an exciting fight having the Swedish crowd on the edge of their seats and errupting in a deafening roar following his knockdown of the then ATT fighter in the opening sequences of the first round.

Watch UFC in Sweden Weigh-ins

With that win The Mauler established himself as an absolute contender in UFCs light heavyweight division. Gustafsson’s next challenge was in the form of a legend, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (21-7-0). Rua’s consistently been fighting the elite of the elite for over a decade and is a true legend of the sport. The former UFC champ was coming of a win over Gustafsson’s Alliance teammate Brandon Vera (12-6-0 1NC) where Rua won by TKO after an exciting fight with the former heavyweight prospect. The stage was set in Seattles Key Arena.

The old school versus the new school ready to go at it in Seattle

On December 8th, The Mauler made history in defeating the legend in a 3 round battle. Gustafsson came out victorious showing the world what the Swede was capable of in a decisive display of crisp punches, powerful knees and swift takedowns. Shogun showed visible signs of damage to his face as a result of the Swedes accurate strikes and knees.

Rua Showing the Damage from the Mauler

This victory is the arguably the biggest Swedish martial arts accomplishment second only to Ingemar Johanssons (26-2-0) victory over Floyd Patterson (55-8-1) in the late 50s and puts the Mauler in the absolute top if the division and we are anxious to see what challenges will be thrown Gustafssons way. Dana White promised the winner of the fight a title shot but due to Jon Jones already planned a fight with trash talker Chael Sonnen, Gustafsson will probably look to stay active before it’s his turn to get a shot at the current title holder. A possible opponent in Lyoto Machida (18-3-0) is rumored next for The Mauler, or perhaps former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Gegard Mousasi could be on deck. Whoever Gustafsson is assigned to fight in 2013 we’ll be looking closely as this year might be the year we get our first Nordic UFC champ.

MMAViking.com is the leading website covering Nordic MMA. Since 2008, the website has been getting fans to discover local MMA.
Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow on Twitter or Instagram at @mmaviking.

Finn Eeva Siiskonen (5-4-2) will take on Irish Sinead Kavanagh (3-0) at BAMMA 27 on December 16 at the 3Arena in Dublin. The bout was announced today, which will be joint venture with Bellator 169. “I’m really excited that BAMMA offered me[...]

Welcome to the most comprehensive coverage of Nordic mixed martial arts website. Since 2008, MMAViking.com’s goal has been to create the source for Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Norway MMA news. Today, 50,000+ fans visit and enjoy the site each month.